STUTTGART, GERMANY (dpa) – Devoted German animal lovers are fuelling a growing industry in alternative medicine for pampered pets.
Naturopathy for animals has boomed in the last decade, said Heidi Kuebler, chairman of the Society for Holistic Veterinary Medicine (GGTM) in the southern German state of Baden-Wuerrtemberg.
Practitioners offer a wide range of alternative therapies from acupuncture, to behaviour therapy, neural therapy, massage and animal psychology. What they all have in common is they aim to stimulate the body’s natural healing powers.
The holistic methods sometimes even include treatment for pet owners. Rosina Sonnenschmidt, a practitioner in the Alsace region of Germany who specialises in treating birds, pays attention to the psychological makeup of sick pets’ owners in a bid to discover whether they could be projecting their own problems onto their pet.
Heidi Kuebler, a qualified veterinary surgeon who has also learned alternative treatment methods, disapproves of the term “alternative therapies”. It is not a question or one style replacing another, she says. “I see both sides.”
Just as in human medicine, there is a difference between doctors and non-medical practitioners. “Unfortunately there are no binding rules,” said Jutta Schroeter, chairman of the Association of Independent Animal Non-Medical Practitioners. But anyone who wants to become a member of her organisation must have passed exams corresponding to at least 18 months training.
Pet owners could also be confused by the large number of associations. Five of them, with a total of 9,000 members, have formed the Co-operative of Veterinary Non-Medical Practitioners, and are currently establishing joint examination criteria for the profession.
The plethora of organisations is partly the result of the many different specialist areas of holistic medicine for animals. Klaus Hoener, a former riding teacher, specialises in so called Life Salts therapy, which uses mixtures of 11 different minerals to combat illnesses. He says he is aware that his specialism has little standing among orthodox medics.
Angelika Richter, of the Veterinary University of Hanover, believes one big weakness of alternative therapies for animals is that they are not self-critical enough. “Orthodox medicine optimises its practices by constantly doubting itself. But alternative medicine always relies on tradition,” she said.
Yet alternative practitioners say many of their four-legged and winged patients are animals that could not been helped by orthodox medicine. “We are often their last hope,” said Sonja Hauschild. But this has its positive side, she says: “We get the nice people who would do everything for their pet.”
